Ordinarily, I don't care how much members of the brass make. Success is a beautiful thing, right? But with this round of Wall St. bonuses, the companies would not be standing without taxpayer-funded rescues.

Big banks have constricted lending, making small banks the key to restoring the flow of credit. But their capacity to do so during a recession hinges on whether the Senate reauthorizes a key loan-guarantee program.

We await word from Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. My hope is that they will make sure that every dollar donated to earthquake relief gets directly to the people of Haiti.